Bishop Coadjutor-Elect Moisés Quezada Mota preaching at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Lake Charles, LA, on October 25, 2015. St. Michael's is located in the Diocese of Western Louisiana, one of the dioceses with a companion relationship with the Diocese of the Dominican Republic.

According to a November 16 press release from the Episcopal News Service, The Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry and the Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe, registrar of General Convention, have notified the Diocese of the Dominican Republic that Bishop Coadjutor-Elect Moisés Quezada Mota has received the required majority of consents in the canonical consent process. Quezada was elected Bishop Coadjutor on July 26, 2015. His ordination and consecration service is slated for Saturday, February 13, 2016, the concluding day of the annual convention of the Diocese of the Dominican Republic. The presiding bishop will officiate.

The diocesan office in Santo Domingo will soon be sending out official invitations to attend this historic event with detailed information about hotel accommodations, local ground transportation, and the location and schedule of the consecration service. To add your name to this guest list and receive this information, please send an email message to either of these two addresses: drequipos@gmail.com or anadinasalcedo@yahoo.com. The information will also be available on the DDG's website: http://www.dominicandevelopmentgroup.org.

The DDG works closely with the Mission Team Support Office in the Diocese of the Dominican Republic to post online a list of the incoming mission teams.

The first list of the incoming mission teams for 2016 has now been posted on the DDG website. To access this list, updated as of December 9, 2015, click here. This resource is always available on the "Mission Teams" webpage on the DDG website.

Currently, 41 teams have signed up for mission trips in 2016. There were 53 mission teams in 2015. To reserve a time and location in 2016 for your established team, contact Karen Carroll at the DR Mission Team Support Office in Santo Domingo at <drequipos@gmail.com>; 809-687-9259 or cell 809-812-9052. To explore opportunities for new mission teams, you may contact either Karen or Bill Kunkle, Executive Director of the Dominican Development Group, at <bkunkle@dominicandevelopmentgroup.org>; (813) 400-2722.

10 Years and Still Going Strong: The Libros Para Los Niños Mission Team

One of the mission teams with the longest track record of returning year after year is Libros Para Los Niños (Books for the Children) from the Diocese of Albany (New York State). This team recently completed its tenth year of visiting several schools and day care facilities in the Diocese of the Dominican Republic, consulting with the administrators of those facilities, and then purchasing needed books and other educational supplies to be used in those institutions.

For a summary report on their November 2015 trip,
click here. For an overview of their mission since its start in 2006,
click here. Here's a paragraph from that overview article:

Since our founding, Libros has taken over one and a half tons of Spanish language books to the Dominican Republic, purchased printers and photocopy equipment, students desks and chairs, chalk boards, audiovisual equipment, computers, and fully equipped science labs in Jarabacoa, Baní, and Carretón. In addition to purchasing school equipment, Libros has provided over 75 scholarships for children to attend school and awarded 5 scholarships for graduates of our schools to attend university. Several recipients of Libros scholarships are studying to be teachers with the aim of returning to their communities to teach.